Sometimes called “the syndrome of approximate answers,” Ganser’s syndrome is most often seen in male prisoners. In the past, this was so much the case that early clinicians called the syndrome prison psychosis , despite the fact that it is not a true psychosis. (Psychosis is characterized by a radical change in personality and a distorted sense of reality.) The disorder has also been referred to as hysterical pseudodementia, due to the resemblance of responses to those of demented patients. However, data on the prevalence of the syndrome and on links within families have not been gathered and analyzed.
